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Lovad Syntrea
Lovad is priestess-presumptive of the Xero Veta cult, after her grandfather’s eventual passing. Lovad’s name means “promised,” as she is the promised visionary predicted by her grandfather who will lead the cult into the next stage of their evolution. She is the child of cousin incest and has shown strong signs of mental illness since childhood, with full onset in her teens. She was born on Epsilon Eridani within the confines of the Xero Veta cult, who used their religious exemptions to shield her from screenings and treatment. Her mother left the cult when Lovad was sixteen, then began putting pressure on the cult, causing Xero Veta to leave Epsilon Eridani in the last few years as the legal battle has raged on, leaving Lovad (by court order) on Epsilon Eridani with her brothers until the case was decided. When Kareen won custody, Lovad and her brothers disappeared before her mother could claim her. Family: Extended family on Calypso Twilight, brothers Krigar and Lysande (deceased), mother Kareen, father Dev (deceased), grandfather Lorne Syntrea. Personality Lovad is heavily schizophrenic, and hears many voices to whom she has ascribed holy names and purposes. Within the confines of her cult and her privileged position, she has never viewed her schizophrenia as abnormal or in need of “fixing”—she feels quite well-adjusted and necessary. She has been babied and coddled a lot, and all of her whims have been seen to; her brothers, who were not “gifted,” had been her servants for her entire life, and that was precisely how she viewed them. She resented it when they tell her what to do; her personality has been warped a bit by them, making her willful and imperious. However, she is also gracious, spiritual, confident, queenly, and has a natural generosity and kindness that would become a princess. Whenever her voices say unkind things, she will tend to scold them or tell them to be nicer, and they will usually obey, as they should. Psychology Lovad Syntrea shows all the hallmarks of early-onset schizophrenia; she has been hearing voices for a very long time, long enough that she views it as entirely normal. Most schizophrenics, however, imbibe a sense from society that hearing voices is incorrect and that there is something wrong with them; this brings about a sense of under-confidence and conflict with the self and with one’s voices. Lovad is nothing like this. There have been some anthropological accounts of tribal societies who gave priestly, special status to people with mental disorders, particularly schizophrenia, which made those individuals better adjusted and made them feel as though they belonged, that they were both necessary and useful. This seems to be the case for Lovad. She does not believe she has a mental disorder, nor does she want to believe it, and it might not be in her interest to convince her. Though she could be treated and never hear voices ever again, she has been raised to believe that her schizophrenia makes her useful and special, and she has been trained for nothing else. The Promised One The ERS Gryphon encountered Lovad at Gryphon 2, "Promised," on February 28th 2156, before she could be successfully smuggled all the way from Epsilon Eridani to Calypso Twilight. She was locked in a smuggler's hold with her two murdered brothers, covered in blood and highly agitated; it was revealed that former cult member, Lin Tornay, killed her brothers in an effort to frame Lovad so she would finally get the medical care she needs. However, Lovad's mother had already won guardianship of her daughter away from the cult, and had come to Calypso Twilight (where Lovad was bound) to find her. With the help of the Gryphon crew, Kareen was able to convince Lovad to try treatment back on Earth. A member of the Pollux Corridor Caravan was commissioned to transport Lovad and her mother back to Earth before the Gryphon would go forward with busting up Xero Veta. Time will tell how she will do with treatment. Aftermath Lovad initially received pharmacological assistance, taking anti-psychotic drugs in order to gain the status of compos mentis and decide if she wanted to pursue permanent treatment. In an INDOC center with her mother's encouragement, she took up painting and created many compelling works that convey some of her visions, her experience of her brothers' deaths, and the "Vetans"--the personifications of the voices she heard for much of her life. Though she missed the Vetans, Lovad also found that she enjoyed painting and being able to carry on a full conversation with her mother, who had never been more interesting or compelling than the voices of the Vetans. She is still ambiguous about the Bana world, as she continues to call it, and has not yet consented to permanent gene therapy and laser surgery to eliminate her schizophrenia for good.